Speaking at a meeting about that study, Western Michigan University President John Dunn asked the NCAA to do something to rein in spending on sports.

"How many sport video analysts do you really need?" asked Dunn in a talk he gave Jan. 15, according to the TV station. "How many assistants for a coach -- not assistant coaches, (but) assistant office personnel, to keep his life straight?"

We like sports. Sports are wonderful things. Competition and athletic prowess is a thrill to watch, and school spirt enhances the college experience. We support all of that. But, come on — colleges are about education — or at least that’s always been our understanding. Let's just put sports in the proper perspective in the university environment.

When you look at spending patterns, education gets the short shrift when compared to sports. The NCAA report notes that overall, athletic spending across Division I rose twice as fast as academic spending from 2005 to 2010, according to Zipp’s story.

If the argument for that salary is that everyone in college sports is making that kind of money, then maybe everyone involved in the venture is making too much money. And, while we may believe that sports make a lot of money for some elite, major conference schools, that’s certainly not the case at a school like Western — and we’d guess, most colleges and universities. At Western, the sports teams are subsidized by the general fund.

If you are going to make the argument that sports make money for a university — then acknowledge professors do too, because quality teachers attract more students and students pay tuition and fees and live in dorms.

For America to really compete, we need an educated workforce. While certainly there is room for pro football players and soccer stars in our culture, it is easy to see that the health of our country and our economy rests less with them and more on being able to produce quality teachers, scientists, engineers and accountants. We would be wise to invest in a few more assistant professors — rather than more assistants for our coaches.